Sitting furniture and structural units therefor

ABSTRACT

A structural unit for use in a piece of sitting furniture as back rest and lateral parts comprises three integrally formed panel section, viz, a substantially vertical upper panel section, a substantially vertical lower panel section for supporting the unit from the floor, and a horizontal shelf panel section extending between the lower edge of the upper panel section and the upper edge of the lower panel section for forming a support for a seat frame, said shelf panel section having the outline of an isosceles trapezoid, the long base of which is the merging line between the shelf panel section and the upper panel section, the short base of which is the merging line between the shelf panel section and the lower panel section, and the non-parallel sides of which form an angle of substantially 45* with the long base of the trapezoid. A piece of sitting furniture comprises at least one such structural unit and a seat frame supported on and connected to the shelf panel section of such structural unit.

[ 1 Feb. 18, 1975 SITTING FURNITURE AND STRUCTURAL UNITS THEREFOR [76]Inventor:

Atherton, Calif. 94025 [22] Filed: Aug. 8, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 386,500

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 10, 1972 Sweden 10370/72[52] US. Cl. 297/445 [51] Int. Cl. A47c 7/00 [58] Field of Search297/440, 445, 417, 418, 297/452, 460, DIG. 2, 455, 456

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,603,276 7/1952 Lorenz eta1 297/418 X 2,672,923 3/1954 McCormick 297/456 3,298,741 1/1967 Lepardet a1. 297/D1G. 2 3,423,772 1/1969 Mainguy 297/440 3,575,465 4/1971Dolby 297/440 3,658,382 4/1972 Anderson 297/445 3,674,311 7/1972 Miller297/452 Folke E. H. Ohlsson, 302 Selby Ln.,

Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam Assistant ExaminerDavid H. CorbinABSTRACT A structural unit for use in a piece of sitting furniture asback rest and lateral parts comprises three integrally formed panelsection, viz, a substantially verticalupper panel section, asubstantially vertical lower panel section for supporting the unit fromthe floor, and a horizontal shelf panel section extending between thelower edge of the upper panel section and the upper edge of the lowerpanel section for forming a support for a seat frame, said shelf panelsection having the outline of an isosceles trapezoid, the long base ofwhich is the merging line between the shelf panel section and the upperpanel section, the short base of which is the merging line between theshelf panel section and the lower panel section, and the non-parallelsides of which form an angle of substantially 45 with the long base ofthe trapezoid.

A piece of sitting furniture comprises at least one such structural unitand a seat frame supported on and connected to the shelf panel sectionof such structural unit.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures SITTING FURNITURE AND STRUCTURAL UNITSTHEREFOR The present invention relates to sitting furniture in the formof armchairs or sofas having one or more back rests and with or withoutlateral parts.

Sitting furniture of this type and of varying construction andappearance is already known. However, most of it suffers from thedisadvantage that each individual piece comprises a plurality ofdifferently designed and comparatively complicated parts. Anotherdisadvantage encountered in many prior art types of sitting furniture isthat it may be difficult or even impossible to pack the furniture intoreadily handled parcels, and this may cause considerable problems inconnection with stock-keeping and shipping.

The present invention has for its object to provide a structural unitfor use in a piece of sitting furniture as back rest and lateral parts.With one or several such structural units it is possible to provide apiece of sitting furniture which can be optionally formed as an armcharior sofa, with or without lateral parts, and which is so designed that itcan be readily disassembled and packed into handy parcels.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a structuralunit suited for rationalized and inexpensive production, for instance byinjection or compression molding of plastics materials.

To achieve the above-mentioned objects of the invention, a structuralunit for use in a piece of sitting furniture as back rest and lateralparts comprises three integrally formed panel sections, viz, an upperpanel section having substantially rectangular outline, an intermediateshelf panel section protruding at substantially right angles from saidupper panel section and having substantially the outline of an isoscelestrapezoid, the long base of which is the merging line between saidintermediate shelf panel section and said upper panel section, and thenon-parallel sides of which form an. angle of substantially 45 with thelong base of the isosceles trapezoid, and a lower panel section havingsubstantially rectangular outline and protruding at substantially rightangles from said intermediate shelf panel section, the merging linebetween said intermediate shelf panel section and said lower panelsection forming one of the long sides of the rectangular outline of saidlower panel section and the short base of the isosceles trapezoidoutline of said intermediate'shelf panel section, means on said lowerpanel section for supporting the structural unit on the floor, andconnecting means on said shelf panel section for fastening a seat frameon said shelf panel section.

The invention also serves to provide a piece of sitting furniture inwhich the back rest or rests and, where appropriate, the lateral partsconsist of structural units of the above-mentioned type which haveidentically the same shape and are manufactured each in one piece, aredesigned to support the piece of furniture on the floor and haveconnecting means for supporting a seat frame holding the piece offurniture together.

The invention will now be described in more detail in the following,reference being had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate anumber of embodiments of the invention and in which:

FIG. 1 shows a structural unit for making up a piece of sittingfurniture;

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of a structural unit;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an armchair with lateral pieces, made upof the structural unitsshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an armchair without lateral parts, madeup of the structural unit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a three-seat sofa having lateral partsand made up of the structural units shown in FIG. 2.

The structural unit according to FIG. 1, generally designated 1, hasbeen designed for high production efficiency, for instance by injectionmolding of a plastics material. The structural unit comprises threeessen tially flat panel sections 3, 4 and 5 manufactured in one piece.The upper panel section 3 serves as a back rest or lateral part and isgenerally rectangular in shape. For greater strength and for aestheticreasons, the rectangular section 3 is provided along its free marginswith a low flange 7 which, in the assembled piece of furniture, isfacing inwardly. Furthermore, the rectangular section 3 preferably isslightly curved outwardly, thereby increasing the strength of thestructural unit 1 and the aesthetic value of the piece of furniture.From the lower margin of the rectangular section 3 there extends,inwardly and horizontally, a shelf panel section 4 which, in theassembled state of the piece of furniture, supports a seat frame 8serving on the one hand, as is indicated by its name, to support theupholstery or seat cushion of the piece of furniture and, on the otherhand, to hold together the various structural units 1 of which the pieceof furniture is made up. The shelf panel section 4 generally is in theform of a long and narrow isosceles trapezoid, the long base of which isthe slightly curved merging line between the upper panel section 3 andthe shelf panel section 4. The angles between the long base and the twonon-parallel sides of the isosceles trapezoid amount to approximately45. In this manner, two structural units 1 can be mounted closelytogether at a corner 15. The shorter base of the isosceles trapezoid isthe merging line between the shelf panel section 4 and a lower panelsection 5. The lower panel section 5 which is in the form of an elongaterectangle, extends vertically downwardly from the shelf panel section 4.Along the free margin of the lower panel section 5 there is provided,for the same reason as at the margin of the upper panel section 3, a lowflange 6. Furthermore, the lower panel section 5, like the upper panelsection 3, may be slightly curved outwardly. In this manner, the mergingline between the lower panel section 5 and the shelf panel section 4will be slightly curved. The lower margin of the lower panel section 5may be formed for directly engaging the floor, or provided with cushionslides.

FIG. 2 shows a structural unit 2 which is slightly different from theunit shown in FIG. 1. As will be seen from the Figure, the upper panelsection 30f the structural unit 2 has a greater curvature than thecorresponding part of the structural unit according to FIG. 1.Furthermore, the upper panel section 3 of the structural unit 2immediately beneath its center, as seen in the vertical direction, has asmooth outward bend (rearwardly and laterally, respectively); thesurface of the upper panel section 3 thus is curved in two directions.In this manner, a greater rigidity is attained for the structural unit 2than for the structural unit as shown in FIG. 1 so that, if desired, thestructural unit according to FIG. 2 can be made thinner than thestructural unit 1. To compensate for the reduced rigidity in the moreplanar portions of the structural unit 2, resulting from a reduction inthickness, the lower portions of the upper panel section 3, the shelfpanel section 4 and the lower panel section 5 are provided with verticalstiffening ribs 9; see FIG. 2. Those portions of the stiffening ribswhich extend across the shelf panel section 4 have their horizontalupper edges 13 lying in a common plane parallel to and spaced from theshelf panel section 4. In the assembled state of the piece of sittingfurniture, the seat frame 8 which holds the structural units together,rests upon these horizontal edges 13 of the stiffening ribs 9.Furthermore, it appears from FIG. 2 that the structural unit 2 has avertical slot 10 extending downwardly from the upper margin of the upperpanel section 3 and serving to hold a back cushion or an arm restcushion 12. The cushion 12 is held in position by a bottom 11 attachedto a short string extending through the slot 10 of the structural unitso that the button 11 and the cushion 12 will lie on either side of thestructural unit 2. If desired, it is of course also possible to use morethan one slot 10 in each structural unit 2, and naturally also thestructural unit according to FIG. 1 may be provided with one or moreslots.

FIG. 3 illustrates the basic construction of an armchair with lateralparts. The armchair illustrated by the Figure is made up of threestructural units according to FIG. 1 and a seat frame 8, but could justas well be made up of three structural units according to FIG. 2. Aswill appear from the Figure, the structural units 1 or 2 are attached tothe seat frame 8 by means of, e.g., screws 14 extending through theshelf panel sections 4 of the structural units. Because the short sidesof the shelf panel sections 4 are inclined through 45 inwardly, thestructural units 1 or 2 may be'mounted closely together at the corner 15of the piece of furniture. Furthermore, the Figure shows that the pieceof furniture rests upon the floor via the lower panel section 5 of thestructural units 1 or 2 or, if desired, via cushion slides. Theupholstered parts of the piece of furniture, such as the arm restcushion 12, are shown with dash and dot lines.

FIG. 4 shows an armchair which has no lateral parts and is made up of astructural unit according to FIG. 1, although it could just as well bemade up of a structural unit according to FIG. 2. Like the piece ofsitting furniture illustrated in FIG. 3, the armchair has a seat frame 8which preferably is upholstered also on its outer side. As the twostructural units at the sides of the armchair are lacking, and thus alsothe supporting lower panel sections 5, there must be provided in theirplace longitudinal, additional lower panel sections 16.

FIG. 5 shows a three-set sofa made up of five structural units accordingto FIG. 2. Naturally, the structural units according to FIG. 1 couldhave been used just as well. The Figure clearly shows that the seatframe 8 extends along the entire length of the sofa, and that themargins of the structural units 2 at the corners 15 of the piecefurniture are mounted closely together. Furthermore, it is clearlyapparent how, e.g., the arm rest cushion 12 is secured to the structuralunit by means of a button 11 and the slot 10.

Combinations of structural units, other than those described above andillustrated in the drawings, are also possible. For instance, it ispossible to make up from three structural units a two-seat sofa havingbut one arm rest, a sofa which is well suited to be placed in a cornergroup together with a normal sofa. Common to all of these structuralunits combined into pieces of sitting furniture, in accordance with thepresent invention, are the considerable advantages that are obtained inthe form of aesthetically attractive pieces of furniture, rationalizedand inexpensive production, as well as low storage and shipping costs.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent l. A structural unitfor use in a piece of sitting furniture as back rest and lateral parts,comprising three integrally formed panel sections, viz, an upper panelsection having substantially rectangular outline, an intermediate shelfpanel section protruding at substantially right angles from said upperpanel section and having substantially the outline of an isoscelestrapezoid, the long base of which is the merging line between saidintermediate shelf panel section and said upper panel section, and thenon-parallel sides of which form an angle of substantially 45 with thelong base of the isosceles trapezoid, and a lower panel section havingsubstantially rectangular outline and protruding at substantially rightangles from said intermediate shelf panel section, the merging linebetween said intermediate shelf panel-section and said lower panelsection forming one of the long sides of the rectangular outline of saidlower panel section and the short base of the isosceles trapezoidoutline of said intermediate shelf panel section, means on said lowerpanel section for supporting the structural unit on the floor, andconnecting means on said shelf panel section for fastening a seat frameon said shelf panel section.

2. A structural unit according to claim 1, further comprising elongatedreinforcement flanges integrally formed with said panel sections andextending across said intermediate shelf panel section and alongportions of said upper and lower panel sections adjoining said shelfpanel section, said flanges having edge portions lying in a planeparallel to and spaced from said shelf panel section for forming asupport for the seat frame.

3. A structural unit according to claim 1, further comprising meansforming a slot in said upper panel section, said slot extending from theedge of said upper panel remote from said shelf panel section in adirection towards said shelf panel section for engagement with a buttonon a cushion.

4. A piece of sitting furniture comprising a seat frame and at least onestructural unit, said unit comprising three integrally formed panelsections, viz, a substan' tially vertical upper panel section havingsubstantially rectangular outline, a substantially horizontalintermediate shelf panel section protruding from the lower end of saidupper panel section and having substantially the outline of an isoscelestrapezoid, the long base of which is the merging line between said shelfpanel section and said upper panel section, and the non-parallel sidesof which form an angle of substantially 45 with the long base of theisosceles trapezoid,- and a substantially vertical lower panel sectionhaving substantially rectangular outline, the merging line between saidshelf panel section and said lower panel section forming one of the longsides of the rectangular outline of said lower panel section and theshort base of the isosceles trapezoid outline of said shelf panelsection, means on said lower panel section for supporting saidstructural unit from forming a support for said seat frame.

6. A piece of sitting furniture according to claim 4, further comprisingmeans forming a slot in said upper panel section, said slot extendingdownwards from the upper edge of said upper panel section, a cushionrest ing against one side of said upper panel section, and button meanson said cushion in engagement with the slot of said upper panel section.

1. A structural unit for use in a piece of sitting furniture as backrest and lateral parts, comprising three integrally formed panelsections, viz, an upper panel section having substantially rectangularoutline, an intermediate shelf panel section protruding at substantiallyright angles from said upper panel section and having substantially theoutline of an isosceles trapezoid, the long base of which is the mergingline between said intermediate shelf panel section and said upper panelsection, and the non-parallel sides of which form an angle ofsubstantially 45* with the long base of the isosceles trapezoid, and alower panel section having substantially rectangular outline andprotruding at substantially right angles from said intermediate shelfpanel section, the merging line between said intermediate shelf panelsection and said lower panel section forming one of the long sides ofthe rectangular outline of said lower panel section and the short baseof the isosceles trapezoid outline of said intermediate shelf panelsection, means on said lower panel section for supporting the structuralunit on the floor, and connecting means on said shelf panel section forfastening a seat frame on said shelf panel section.
 2. A structural unitaccording to claim 1, further comprising elongated reinforcement flangesintegrally formed with said panel sections and extending across saidintermediate shelf panel section and along portions of said upper andlower panel sections adjoining said shelf panel section, said flangeshaving edge portions lying in a plane parallel to and spaced from saidshelf panel section for forming a support for the seat frame.
 3. Astructural unit according to claim 1, further comprising means forming aslot in said upper panel section, said slot extending from the edge ofsaid upper panel remote from said shelf panel section in a directiontowards said shelf panel section for engagement with a button on acushion.
 4. A piece of sitting furniture comprising a seat frame and atleast one structural unit, said unit comprising three integrally formedpanel sections, viz, a substantially vertical upper panel section havingsubstantially rectangular outline, a substantially horizontalintermediate shelf panel section protruding from the lower end of saidupper panel section and having substantially the outline of an isoscelestrapezoid, the long base of which is the merging line between said shelfpanel section and said upper panel section, and the non-parallel sidesof which form an angle of substantially 45* with the long base of theisosceles trapezoid, and a substantially vertical lower panel sectionhaving substantially rectangular outline, the merging line between saidshelf panel section and said lower panel section forming one of the longsides of the rectangular outline of said lower panel section and theshort base of the isosceles trapezoid outline of said shelf panelsection, means on said lower panel section for supporting saidstructural unit from the floor, and connecting means for fastening saidseat frame on said shelf panel section.
 5. A piece of sitting furnitureaccording to claim 4, further comprising elongated reinforcement flangesintegrally formed with said panel sections and extending across saidintermediate shelf panel section and along portions of said upper anDlower panel section adjoining said shelf panel section, said flangeshaving horizontal edge portions above said shelf panel section forforming a support for said seat frame.
 6. A piece of sitting furnitureaccording to claim 4, further comprising means forming a slot in saidupper panel section, said slot extending downwards from the upper edgeof said upper panel section, a cushion resting against one side of saidupper panel section, and button means on said cushion in engagement withthe slot of said upper panel section.